Students investigate the lives of birds by writing about their favorite species.  For this animal life lesson, students research a science book and web to discover the characteristics of many types of birds.  Students select...

After listening to the opening description in Of Mice and Men, high schoolers try their hand at writing a short story that includes a mugging. The story should include all five senses. Each of the pupils reads their opening paragraph to...

Public health trainees read and write a summary of the article, "A Whiff of Danger". The article is not available through the link, but can be found on the National Center for Biotechnology Information website. After summarizing,...

Second graders discuss the need for each one to meet educational expectations. They draw pictures and write a summary to explain important behavior for a 2nd grader. In groups, 2nd graders discuss the importance of following rules, and...

Seventh graders write a few sentences explaining the most important events of their lives during the past year. As a class, they discuss why they chose the elements they did for their sentences. To end the lesson plan, they read a...

Most twenty-first century pupils don't know how to interpret cuneiform. Examining images of cuneiform and papyrus writing and using a chart and Venn diagram, young historians extrapolate what life may have been like for people who lived...

Let your voices be heard! Pupils research local and national environmental concerns using the Internet. Class members determine an issue they deem important and draft a letter to a local politician expressing their...

Explore how lack of access to water impacts peoples' lives in poor countries. Through text reading and discussion, middle schoolers are presented with the story of a young girl who lives and functions with limited water resources. They...

What happened to a murder case when the police eat the murder weapon? After reading Roald Dahl's dark and ironic short story "Lamb to the Slaughter," young scholars write a persuasive essay to convince a jury that the wife who killed her...

After viewing The Last Roundup, a documentary that examines the transitioning of Santa Rosa from a privately owned island to a National Park, class members adopt the point of view of Tim Vail, a member of the family that once owned the...

What tools do archaeologists and anthropologist use to learned about what life was like in the past. After watching West of The West's documentary Once Upon a Time that details how scientists use artifacts to establish a...

Students review the correct form for writing paragraphs.  In this paragraph writing lesson, students rewrite a poorly written opening sentence. Students make changes to a closing paragraph.  Students write a plan for an essay...

Students learn characteristics of an effective personal narrative.  In this personal narrative lesson, students discover ways to show rather than tell, adding richness and detail to their writing.  Students evaluate a news...

Binoculars are used as a metaphor for good descriptive writing. Class members first view a small picture and then an enlarged view of the same image in which the details come into focus. Next, learners examine a paragraph lacking sensory...

Scholars research and present on the historical happenings of 1919. After sharing their findings, pupils debate about how Congress dealt with the moral issues of the time. The evaluation asks learners to write a persuasive...

Critical thinkers read a summary of a United States Supreme Court case, including important background information and the court's final decision. They form an opinion in agreement or disagreement regarding the case and then write an...

Begin writing personal narratives in this writing instructional activity. Junior high writers start by writing a journal about their favorite holiday. They read a book at their skill level and use graphic organizers to record their ideas...

After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in...

Groups research participatory democracies and compare the role and rights of citizens in ancient history with those in recent U.S. history. Guided by a series of questions, individuals compose a persuasive essay in which they discuss the...

Is there a connection? Scholars work to write a summary and theme to connect The Lightning Thief and myth of Cronus. They begin by looking at a model essay and then work on their own drafts. 

Learners read a given play. They choose the key scenes from the play and write a narration to carry the plot line between those scenes. They create a comic book that depicts these key scenes, complete with pictures and text balloons.

Discover the effectiveness of wind, water, and steam as energy sources. The hands-on activity has young scientists create a turbine from common materials. After constructing the turbines, they use wind, water, and steam to turn them and...

Calling all junior detectives! Scholars use the tools of investigation to determine the causes and impacts of the American Civil War. Using viewing guides, videos, group research, and written resources, they discover what it takes to...

As a prequel to a research assignment, class members explore writing citations in the modern Language Association (MLA) and American Psychological Association (APA) formats. In pairs, or individually, researchers use books and magazines...